


Neighbors

by orphan_account



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-10-20 16:03:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10666074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: What happens when a freckle-faced woman shows up at Hope's apartment? What happens when Hope finds herself catching feelings for her?Neighbors AU





	1. Chapter 1

Hope plops down on her couch after a long day at work. She places her full wine glass on the coffee table in front of her and leans back into the couch cushions. She’s been the owner of a highly successful New York City club for 5 years now and finally has a weekly routine down. She goes in from 11-3 to make sure the day prior went as it should have. It’s a perk of owning a successful business: you hire people to do the work for you. Occasionally, she’ll go in on Friday and Saturday nights to help her crew with the rambunctious night crowd.

 

She’s just about to open a book, when she hears a hesitant knock at her apartment door. She’s lived in this complex for about 3 years and hasn’t had any trouble with the other tenants, which is a privilege in the city. She stands up and looks through the peep-hole to see a woman waiting on the other side.

 

She opens the door silently and looks down at the woman, who’s a few inches shorter than Hope. “Hi, um-I’m Kelley, I just moved in across the hall.” The woman says, motioning to the door behind her. “Oh, hey, I’m Hope. Nice to meet you.” She states, kindly. ‘ _She’s pretty.’_ Hope thinks.

 

She has freckles painted on her face, hazel eyes, and a body that Hope has to pull her eyes away from. “So, I went to the store today to grab some ingredients to make cookies and I completely forgot the sugar. I was hoping you have some?” Kelley explains, giving Hope a small smirk to let her know she was caught looking.

 

Hope looks away for a few seconds, before quickly nodding. “Yea, yes, I have some. Come in and I’ll grab it.” The taller woman states, opening the door for Kelley to come inside. Hope makes her way to the kitchen. “How much do you need?” She asks Kelley, who’s following behind her. “Maybe like 2 cups, just to be safe.”

 

The brunette silently puts the sugar in a plastic bag for Kelley to take back to her apartment. “So, what are the cookies for?” She asks, curiously. Kelley shrugs. “I like cookies.” Hope smiles at that and hands over the plastic bag. “Who doesn’t.” She replies, shrugging. Kelley tilts her head. “If you’re lucky, I’ll bring one over for you.” She mentions.

 

“What kind of cookies?” Hope asks, casually.  “Chocolate chip.” She answers, making her way to the door. The taller woman nods, as she opens the door for her neighbor.

 

 

 

“Don’t burn down the building. I like this place.” Hope calls after Kelley, as she shorter woman makes her way back across the hall. Kelley gives her a look, before closing the door. Hope smirks and shuts the door to her own apartment.

 

Hope’s a club owner, she’s always been too focused on her business to ever get into a real relationship. The occasional hook-up was all she needed to keep herself going. Work has been her life for the past seven years and up until around a year ago, she was working 60 hour weeks. She didn’t have time for anyone else.

 

Now, she’s finally getting to be the owner that doesn’t need to be as involved. She can stay home on weekdays if she needs to, she can work from home whenever she wants and her time at the club has become minimal. Now, she finds herself with so much free time, she’s not sure what to do with her days.

 

* * *

 

 

It’s been about 2 weeks since she’s seen her new neighbor, but that changes as she’s walking upstairs to her second-floor apartment after a long Saturday night working at the club. She sees Kelley pressing another woman into the outside of the freckled-woman’s apartment door. Hope’s eyes widen, as she takes in the scene in front of her.

 

She quietly tries to sneak her way to her own apartment. She takes the keys out of her jacket pocket and tries keeping the jingling to a minimum. “Oh, hey, Hope.” She hears from behind her. Hope whips around at having been caught. She looks at Kelley, who wipes at her mouth. The blonde woman behind her ducks away, clearly embarrassed.

 

“Hey, sorry, I tried sneaking in.” Hope mentions, her face turning pink at the uncomfortable situation. “No, it’s cool. Megan was just leaving.” The blonde woman rolls her eyes, angrily. “It’s Morgan.” She snaps. Kelley grimaces, but turns to the woman. “Right, right. Sorry, Morgan. I’ll text you.” She states. She gives the blonde a friendly slap on the shoulder, earning a glare from Morgan, who storms away.

 

Hope watches the situation in confusion. She notes that Kelley has definitely been drinking, with the slight slur in her voice, but also knows the woman isn’t out of it. “Nice.” She says, sarcastically, as she watches the blonde woman stomp her way down the stairs. Kelley shrugs. “I just met her tonight, what’d she expect?” Hope rolls her eyes. “I don’t know, maybe to be treated with respect?”

 

Kelley raises her eyebrows at that, but smirks. “It was one night. She knew that from the start.” Hope shrugs, before turning back towards her apartment. “I’m gonna head in.” She mentions, as she unlocks her door. Kelley puts a hand up. “No, wait. You want to have a drink? I have beer and wine.” The shorter woman mentions.

 

Hope pauses, before scrunching her nose and turning towards her neighbor. “You just fucked her in that apartment.” She states, motioning to the door behind Kelley. Kelley snickers, but nods. “I’ll bring my beer to yours.” She says, simply. She doesn’t wait for Hope to respond before turning on her heel and quickly heading to retrieve the drinks.

 

Hope sighs. Her neighbor is certainly forward, and a little bit demanding, but she waits for Kelley to come back, before leading her inside. “So where’d you go tonight?” Hope asks, trying to make conversation as the settle into the living room.

 

“Arena. It’s off of 4th street.” Kelley replies, not missing the change in Hope’s face at the mention of the club. “What? Bad experience there?” The freckled-woman asks. Hope shakes her head, before taking a swig of her wine. “No, I’m just very familiar with it.” Kelley tilts her head and presses on. “What do you mean?”

 

“I own it.” Hope finally says. Kelley raises her eyebrows in surprise. “You own it?” She asks, for clarification. Hope nods, casually.  Kelley takes a swig of her beer. “So you can get me in for free?” She asks, sending a wink Hope’s way.

 

The bar owner rolls her eyes. “No.” She states, simply. Kelley pouts, but cracks a smile. They continue bantering back and forth for a while. It isn’t until Kelley finishes her third bottle of beer that she stands up. “Well, I should get home.” Hope nods and walks Kelley to the door.

 

“Goodnight, Hope.” Kelley says, softly, after ducking into the hallway. Hope leans against her doorframe and waits for Kelley to unlock her own door. “Goodnight.” She replies. Kelley opens her door and looks back at Hope, who sends a soft smile her way. They lock eyes for a few seconds, before Kelley heads inside.

 

Hope closes her own door and leans up against the inside of it. She’s not sure if it’s just the wine, or if she truly felt a connection of some sort with Kelley. Across the hallway, Kelley’s cracking open another beer and wondering about the same thing.

 

Hope lays in bed that night, listening to the sound of the city. Car horns, yelling, the occasional siren. All sounds that she’s become accustomed to since moving here. Eventually, she finds herself drifting into sleep.

 

Hope wakes up to the sound of knocking at her door. She grumbles and nuzzles her head further into her pillow, hoping the person will go away. When she realizes, the knocking wasn’t stopping, she pulls herself out of bed and makes her way to her door. She sees who’s on the other side and rolls her eyes. “Why are you here so early, Kelley?” She asks, as she pulls open her door.

 

Kelley smiles up at her with a paper bag in her hand. “I brought food to make breakfast.” She says, simply, pushing past Hope and into her apartment. Hope sighs, but follows Kelley into the kitchen. Hope sits down on a stool at the small island and watches Kelley take out eggs, bacon, and some vegetables. “I assumed you have milk. If you don’t, I’ll go grab mine.” Hope shrugs and stands up, heading to the fridge.

 

Kelley watches, just now noticing the lack of clothes Hope’s wearing. She’s wearing grey Nike Pros and a black tank top with no bra on underneath it, allowing her nipples to show through the fabric. Kelley watches as Hope bends down to check the bottom shelf. She trails her eyes up Hope’s long legs and to her toned thighs.

 

“I have some.” Hope finally says, standing up and shutting the fridge door. Kelley snaps out of her daze and locks eyes with Hope, who looks at her confusedly at Kelley’s wide-eyed gaze. “Great-um, that’s great.” The shorter woman stutters out. She takes the milk from Hope’s hand and turns to turn the stove on.

 

Hope goes back to her room to throw sweatpants over her Nike Pros, before heading back to the kitchen. “So you just show up at my apartment now? We’re at that level?” She asks, jokingly. Kelley smirks, as she cracks an egg. “We’re at that level of neighborship.” Kelley replies, affirmatively.

 

“That’s not a word.” Kelley shrugs. “It is now.” Hope laughs and Kelley continues making their breakfast. “What’re you doing today?” Kelley asks, curiously, as she puts the bacon on their plates. Hope shrugs. “Probably gonna go for a run then head to the club for the night.” Kelley raises her eyebrows. “Partying tonight?” She asks.

 

Hope quickly shakes her head. “Definitely no partying. I’ll be working. We have a guest DJ coming in tonight, plus it’s a Friday, so it’ll be really busy. I want to make sure everything goes well.” Kelley rolls her eyes. “It’s a Friday night and you’re gonna work?”

 

Hope nods. “Have to make sure everyone does their job.” She mentions. Kelley places the plates on the table and shakes her head. “Lame.” She states, simply. “Me and my friends will be there tonight if you want to stop working for one night.”

 

The bar owner shakes her head. “That probably won’t happen.” Kelley shrugs and they change the subject. Hope compliments Kelley’s cooking and they go on to talk about all the jobs they’ve had since moving to the city.

 

Eventually Kelley heads back to her apartment to shower and get ready for a night out with her friends. Hope stays in and decides to skip out on her run today in favor of relaxing before what will most-definitely be a hectic night at the club.

 

* * *

 

 

There’s a large crowd on the dance floor and Hope works her way through it to get to her general manager, who’s helping behind the bar. “Do you need me to come back there?” Hope yells out over the music. Carli nods. “We need all the help we can get.” Carli shouts back. One of their bartenders called out sick tonight, leaving the crew short-staffed on the busiest night of the week.

 

So Hope heads behind the bar and begins taking orders. “Hey, I know you!” She hears a familiar voice shout. She smiles and turns to Kelley, who’s giving her a smirk and sat on a bar stool. “Hey, Kelley. You want a beer?” Hope asks, already reaching for the beer she saw Kelley drinking the other night. The freckled woman nods. “And a martini for my friend here.” She adds, motioning to a small brunette woman beside her.

 

Hope glances at the woman and bites her lips. She nods, before beginning to make the drink. She grabs the vodka and tries to figure out why seeing Kelley with another woman bothers her so much. Her stomach immediately tightens, when she turns around to see Kelley’s lips locked with the new woman’s.

 

“Here you go.” Hope states, simply, as she drops the drinks in front of the pair more roughly than she should have. Kelley gives her a confused look, but places a twenty on the counter and yells out a ‘thank you’ before disappearing back into the crowd.

 

‘Stupid fucking neighbor.’ Hope mutters to herself, as she starts making another drink. Her stomach is still in knots as she thinks about Kelley dancing with the other woman, kissing the other woman. She knows she has no right to be upset. She’s only known Kelley for a couple of weeks, but she can’t control the feeling in her chest when she sees her.

 

Hope doesn’t see Kelley for the rest of the night, but she does see the brunette a few more times when she comes back to the bar for more drinks.

 

The crew doesn’t end up leaving Arena until four in the morning. Getting drunk people to leave when they’re having a good time is next to impossible. So, Hope helps her team clean up behind the bar, while the wait staff cleans the dance floor and seating areas.

 

The brunette is exhausted as she makes her way up the flight of stairs to her apartment. She just barely closes her apartment door when she hears noise from across the hall. She slips out of her shoes and looks out the peep hole to see the brunette from the club stumbling her way down the hallway with her high-heeled shoes hanging from her hand.

 

Hope sighs and shakes her head, mostly at herself, before trudging towards the bathroom to take a long shower. She turns the heat up all the way and appreciates the sting of the water as it hits her back. She has to control her feelings. Kelley clearly wants nothing more than a friendship and Hope knows she can’t allow herself to get caught in Kelley’s trap.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some background information, along with confused Hope ft. teasing Kelley.

 

 

“So, when’d you move to the city?” Kelley asks. They’re sitting in Hope’s living room, both nursing glasses of red wine. It’s a Thursday night and both women are tired from a long day of work. Hope had to go into the club early this morning to sort out paperwork and ended up staying until about 7.

 

“Ten years ago.” Hope states, before sipping her wine. Kelley nods, “So you were what? 18?” She asks. Hope nods, slowly. “Close. I was 22. You?” She asks, mostly to turn the conversation back to Kelley. “I moved here when I was 21. About 4 years ago.”

 

“Why here?” Kelley asks, after a few seconds of silence. Hope thinks about the question, before responding. “I’m not sure. I just wanted to be in a big city, far away from where I’m from. So, here I am.” Kelley tilts her head. “Where are you from?”

 

“Washington state. Richland. It’s a small town.” Kelley raises her eyebrows. “Can I ask why you left?” Hope looks down and shrugs. “My dad died and my mom wanted nothing to do with me. I wasn’t-I wasn’t the daughter she wanted, so I figured I’d do them all a favor and leave.” She doesn’t make eye contact with Kelley, she doesn’t want her sympathy.

 

“I’m sorry. Have you spoken with them since?” Hope shakes her head, in response, before deflecting the conversation back towards Kelley. “So why’d you move here?” She asks, finally looking up to meet Kelley’s concerned eyes. “I went to NYU and loved the city, so I stayed. My family misses me, but I go and visit on holidays, birthdays when I can, so they survive.”

 

Hope smiles. She’s happy that Kelley has her family behind her, there to support her. “Where’s your family?” She asks, curiously. “Fayetteville, Georgia.” Hope laughs. “Of course, they are.” Kelley raises her eyebrows, unsure if she should be offended or not.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kelley asks, a small smile forming on her face at Hope’s laughter. “You’re a typical southern girl. How could I have missed that?” Hope states, shaking her head a little bit at herself. Kelley laughs. “Can typical southern girls be lesbians?” Hope blinks a few times.

 

“I think so.” She states. Kelley shrugs and takes a long sip of her wine. They continue bantering back and forth for about an hour, before their pizza is finally delivered. They end up watching a horror movie and Kelley falls asleep on the couch halfway through.

 

So, Hope pulls out a spare blanket and throws it over Kelley, before getting her a pillow. “What’re you doing?” Kelley mumbles out, as Hope tries slipping the pillow under Kelley’s head. “Lift your head up, your neck is gonna be stiff.” She whispers. Kelley grunts, but complies, bringing a smile to Hope’s face.

 

* * *

 

 

Hope wakes up to the smell of bacon cooking. She moans, in delight, and rolls herself out of bed. After brushing her teeth, she makes her way to the kitchen, where Kelley is standing in front of the stove cooking eggs. “Good morning.” Hope says, softly, trying not to startle Kelley.

 

“Morning.” Kelley replies, happily. Hope smiles back, noting that Kelley must have gone back to her place to change at some point. “You didn’t have to make breakfast.” Hope mentions. She leans against the counter next to the stove and watches Kelley cook.

 

“I was hungry. Figured you’d be too.” She replies easily. She steps in front of Hope and leans in, leaving Hope confused. Their faces come just inches apart and Kelley looks her in the eyes, not missing Hope’s eyes flickering to her lips for a split-second.

 

“Sorry, you’re blocking the milk.” Kelley says, as she pulls away. She holds up the half-gallon to prove her point. “Oh.” Hope says, dumbly. The shorter woman smirks to herself as she finishes cooking the eggs. Hope makes her way into the living room and flips through the channels on the TV.

 

Eventually, Hope settles on a show and Kelley makes her way in with two plates of food. “HGTV? Really?” The freckled woman asks, chuckling. Hope shrugs. “It’s better than you think.” She replies, before popping a piece of bacon in her mouth.

 

“So, we’re doing a movie night tomorrow night instead of going out. Do you want to come?” Kelley asks, after they finish their food. Hope shrugs. “I don’t know, I should probably go and make sure everything goes okay at the club.” Kelley rolls her eyes. “Hope, you’re literally there every day. Just go in the morning and make sure they’re set up. They’ll be fine. Carli will be there.”

 

Hope sighs. She really should go to the club, but she really doesn’t want to. She’d much prefer to spend her time with Kelley, even if her friends will also be there. “Where is the movie night?” Kelley smirks, knowing she’s going to get Hope to come. “That’s the thing…you’ll have to travel a bit. You think you can handle about ten steps across the hallway?”

 

Hope smiles, but rolls her eyes. “It’s at your place?” Kelley tilts her head, in the affirmative. “6 o’clock, Solo. Be there.” She says, before standing. “I need to go take a shower. Text me tomorrow and let me know for sure that you’re coming.” Hope nods and watches Kelley get her stuff together.

 

“I don’t have your number.” The taller woman calls from the couch when the realization came upon her. Kelley turns on her heel and walks back to the living area. “Well you could have just asked me for it.” She says, winking at Hope, as she approaches. Hope sighs. It’s times like this where she doesn’t know if Kelley’s intentionally flirting with her or if it’s just her personality.

 

They exchange phone numbers and Kelley heads back to her apartment, leaving Hope to consider whether going to Kelley’s for a movie night is the best idea. She knows she’s starting to catch real feelings for the younger woman and isn’t sure if she can trust Kelley with her heart. A night watching movies with her friends doesn’t seem like the best idea for Hope right now.

 

* * *

 

 

Of course, Hope ends up going to Kelley’s the following night. She fights herself over it for a couple of hours, before finally giving in. She knows Kelley wouldn’t let her live it down if she skipped out on her. So, she goes to the store to buy herself a bottle of wine and pick up some of Kelley’s favorite beer before heading to Kelley’s. She decides to keep it casual, wearing tight blue skinny jeans and a loose fitting black t-shirt along with white sneakers.

 

“Am I early?” Hope asks, when she realizes she’s the only one there. Kelley shakes her head, her eyes falling on Hope’s ass, as she walks behind her. “Everyone else is late.” She says, rolling her eyes at her friends. They put everything in the fridge, before going to the living room. “So, what movies are we watching?” Hope asks, as she plops down on Kelley’ couch.

 

Kelley blinks a few times. “Oh, you thought we’re actually watching movies?” Hope furrows her eyebrows. “You said it’s a movie night.” Kelley grimaces. “You may have taken that a little too literally. We’ll probably watch one movie and have a few drinks, then we always end up playing drinking games.” She shrugs, as if I’s obvious.

 

Hope tilts her head. “So by movie night, you meant party?” She asks, for clarification. Kelley nods. “I guess that’s a better term for it, yes.” Hope rolls her eyes and her shoulders slump. “How many people are coming?” She asks, curiously.

 

“Probably about twenty.” Kelley mumbles. She knows she probably should have been clearer with Hope about what they’d be doing tonight, but she knew Hope wouldn’t have come if she’d known. Hope looks at her for a few seconds, clearly unamused. She’s just about to open her mouth to speak, when there’s a barrage of knocks at the door.

 

“Ay, the little old lady downstairs let us in. I gave her a beer.” A man says proudly, as he walks in followed by about ten other people who Hope isn’t familiar with. Hope raises her eyebrows, while Kelley laughs.

 

“Hope, this is Servando, Alex, Tobin, Jrue, Lauren, Kriegs, her girlfriend Ashlyn, Christen, Julie, and Zach.” Everyone waves a ‘hello’ to Hope, while the brunette just tries to remember half of their names, unsuccessfully.

 

They end up skipping the movie and head straight to the drinking games. People trail through the door throughout the evening and Hope ends up tucking herself into the end of the couch, watching the game of beer pong unfold in front of her. She drinks about four glasses of wine, before she hears her name. “Hope, come here.” Kelley calls out. Hope looks up to see Kelley standing in the kitchen with a few other people that Hope can’t put names to.

 

“We’re doing body shots.” Kelley states, as Hope walks up to the group. “I’m not.” Hope says, simply, earning a chorus of ‘boos’ from the small crowd. Kelley puts a hand up to stop them, before approaching Hope. “Let me do one off you. No one else. Just me.” The shorter woman whispers in Hope’s ear.

 

Hope bites her bottom lip, feeling Kelley’s warm breath caress her neck. She nods and ignores the cheer from the group, as she feels Kelley’s hand grip her own and lead her to the kitchen island. Kelley guides her to lay down and Hope keeps her eyes on Kelley, who gathers the needed items.

 

Hope feels Kelley settle on her thighs and she looks up to see her smirking back down at her. “Ready?” The freckled woman asks. Hope nods and arches her back so Kelley can lift her shirt. “Damn.” She hears a few people say, as Kelley lifts her shirt to expose her abs.

 

Kelley bites her lips for a few seconds, as she stares down at Hope’s body. The taller woman can’t help but smirk while she watches Kelley, who eventually looks up to lock eyes with her. Kelley raises her eyebrows at her and smirks right back, which stuns Hope a little bit. She’s still not used to the confidence that emits from Kelley’s entire being.

 

Kelley moves herself so she’s directly above Hope, staring down at her. The shorter woman gently tilts Hope’s head up and leans down. She hesitates, allowing her breath to fall on Hope’s neck for a few seconds. She feels Hope shiver, before flattening her tongue and licking a line directly over her pulse point.

 

Hope bites her lips and allows her eyes to flutter closed at the feeling of Kelley’s tongue against her skin. She feels the salt being placed on her neck and looks up to see Kelley shimmying her way back down Hope’s body to get the slice of lime. She holds it out and Hope takes it, placing it in her teeth.

 

Tobin comes over with the shot of tequila. “Ready?” She asks. Kelley nods and makes her way back above Hope. She leans in, purposely close to Hope’s face, before turning to the salt. Hope lets out a shaky breath at the feeling of Kelley’s mouth back on her. She feels Kelley sucking every single grain of salt off her. She feels Kelley’s teeth nibbling on her pulse point and she feels herself getting hot.

 

The alcohol courses its way through her veins, as she watches Kelley make her way back down her body. She barely feels the tequila sliding across her skin, as all she can focus on is Kelley’s mouth catching every last drop. Hope finds herself squirming, just enough for only Kelley to notice, as she feels Hope’s muscles clenching under her tongue.

 

She finishes the shot and moves back above Hope. She leans in and takes the lime out of her mouth, allowing her lips to brush briefly over Hope’s. The taller woman can barely hear the crowd cheering over the sound of her own heart beating out of her chest. She watches Kelley pull herself off her and take the lime out of her mouth, before tossing it in the trash can.

 

“That was hot.” Zach says to Kelley. Julie nods in agreement and Kelley smirks, giving them a nod, before helping Hope off the table. Everyone disperses from the kitchen area, in favor of the beer pong game happening in the living room. Hope looks at her for a few seconds, noting the size of her pupils. “Sorry about the hickey.”

 

Hope’s jaw drops and she pulls out her phone to use as a mirror. She sees the already bruising mark on her neck forming into the size of a quarter. “Kelley!” She says, incredulously. Kelley laughs, shrugging. “You liked it.” She says, easily. Hope looks at her with wide eyes and Kelley smirks.

 

Hope opens and closes her mouth a few times, the words dying in her throat. Kelley puts a hand on Hope’s forearm and lean up to Hope’s ear. “I did too.” She whispers, as if it’s the world’s biggest secret. The brunette stands, frozen, and watches Kelley make her way back to her friends.

 

* * *

 

 

The night seems to go by in a blur, but everything slows down for Hope, when she stands up to get a beer. She’d finished her wine, so she’s been drinking beer for the last hour or so.

 

She heads into the kitchen and passes by a few people that she’s never seen before. She grabs her drink and turns to head back into the living room when she sees Kelley and a blonde girl (she thinks her name is Emily) kissing against the counter.

 

Hope’s shoulders fall and she doesn’t think twice before placing her unopened beer back into the fridge. She purposely looks away, as she makes her way out of Kelley’s apartment and back to her own. She rips the shoes off her feet and pulls the shirt over her head, as she makes her way to the bathroom for a shower.

 

She allowed herself to think that Kelley may want something more with her. She allowed Kelley to fool her into thinking she’s attracted to her. Kelley may just want to have fun, but that’s not where Hope is in her life. She’s not gonna allow some 25-year-old woman to pull on her heart strings and then pretend like it never happened. She isn’t gonna allow herself to get hurt any more than she already has.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

It’s been two weeks since the party at Kelley’s apartment and Hope’s been really busy at the club. It’s spring break and all the college kids in the city, who didn’t go somewhere warmer, are ready to party. This leaves the club staff overwhelmed with the amount of people trying to get in every night. It also leaves Hope overwhelmed with the amount of financials she has to keep organized. Money is pouring in, which makes the hard work Hope’s doing well worth it.

 

Because she’s been so busy, she’s been able to successfully avoid seeing Kelley. They’ve sent a few texts back and forth, but it hasn’t been anything other than small talk. The club owner knows she can’t avoid Kelley forever, but she’s just trying to avoid her until she feels like she’s ready. She needs to be ready to be Kelley’s friend and nothing more than that.

 

She walks out of the club on the Sunday morning that officially ends spring break season. She left the club a little bit early, as it’s only 1 AM, but she felt like her staff had it well-handled. She lets out a long sigh of relief. “Hope!” She hears someone yell. She turns around to see Kelley, Tobin, and Christen walking towards her.

 

“Oh, hey.” She says, as they approach. “Come to the bar with us.” Kelley says, pointing across the street at a busy bar/club. It has two levels, one being the bar and the other being a club. Hope’s club has always had to compete with it, but she’s found that hers has brought in more success over the years. Hope sighs. She really _could_ use a drink.

 

She can tell that Kelley’s already pretty buzzed, so the first thing Hope gets is a shot of vodka. They buy their drinks and head upstairs to the club. They sit down at a table to finish their drinks and allow Hope to catch up with them. Hope finds that it isn’t awkward at all. She thought she’d feel awkward around Kelley after what happened at the party, but she feels the same way she had before, which both scares and excites the taller woman.

 

When Hope feels like she has enough alcohol in her system, the four of them make their way to the dance floor. Christen immediately turns and starts grinding into Tobin’s front, leaving her and Kelley to themselves.

 

They dance individually for a while, before Hope feels someone come up behind her. “Can I dance with you?” She hears a female voice say. Hope turns around to see a woman even taller than her. ‘She’s pretty.’ Hope thinks. She has long brown hair and a slim figure and just as Hope is about to accept her offer, Kelley intervenes.

 

“She’s with me tonight, sorry.” Hope looks at her with raised eyebrows. The woman nods, in acceptance and walks away with no trouble. “I’m with you tonight, huh?” Hope asks, smirking a little bit at Kelley, who shrugs. “I didn’t think you’d want to dance with her.

 

“I would have danced with her. She’s attractive.” Hope says, matter-of-factly. Kelley tilts her head. “Not as attractive as I am.” She counters. Hope scoffs. “How do you know what I think?” She asks, incredulously.

 

Kelley leans up to Hope’s ear. “You think I don’t notice you checking me out? I know you want me, Hope.” The taller woman stiffens. “What are you talking about?” She asks, in response. Kelley just shakes her head. “Nothing. Just come dance with me.”

 

Hope does hesitate, but eventually complies. Hope finds herself with Kelley in front of her, grinding herself into Hope. The taller woman keeps her hands on the woman’s hips, occasionally allowing them to wander. The song transitions and Kelley turns herself around, slipping a leg between Hope’s.

 

Kelley traps Hope’s thigh between her legs and grinds herself onto her. Kelley leans up so her mouth is next to Hope’s ear. “You’re sexy. You know that?” Kelley says, softly. The taller woman smiles and shakes her head, slightly. They lock eyes and Hope senses a change in Kelley’s face. Kelley stops dancing and looks down to Hope’s lips. She leans in slowly, until they’re sharing air.

 

The music becomes background noise, as Hope lets out a shaky breath at Kelley’s proximity. Just as she’s about to close the small gap, she hears Christen’s voice yelling, which catches Kelley’s attention. They pull apart. “Leave us the hell alone!” Christen shouts at a man that neither Kelley nor Hope have seen before.

 

Hope walks over to see what the problem is, quickly followed by Kelley. Christen and Tobin are standing side by side and Tobin’s face is bright red with anger. “What’s going on?” Kelley asks, as they approach. “Fucking homophobic piece of shit.” Tobin finally speaks.

 

“All I’m saying is y’all don’t gotta be kissing on each other in public.” The man says, with a southern drawl. Kelley immediately jumps on the offensive. “All I’m saying, sir, is that what we do isn’t your fucking business. Go back to your friends and leave us alone.” She says, her voice suddenly soberer.

 

Hope watches the situation unfold. “I wasn’t talking to you, baby doll, but now that you’re over here I’d like to offer you a drink.” Kelley literally laughs in his face. “In your dreams, redneck.” She says, before looking at Christen, in disbelief.

 

The man’s face suddenly gets red with both embarrassment and anger. “Where I’m from, a lady doesn’t turn down a request like that.” He says, nastily, before taking a step towards Kelley. This catches Hope’s attention and she takes a step forward so she’s standing in between him and Kelley.

 

“She’s with me.” Hope states, simply. The man looks at her for a few seconds before smiling. “She don’t want you, buttercup. She just can’t get herself a man, so she settled. Just let me have ten minutes with her and she’ll be off your hands.” He puts a hand out to nudge Hope out of the way, but Hope roughly brushes him off.

 

“Let me be clearer for you. Back the fuck off. She doesn’t want anything to do with you, buttercup.” Hope spits out at him. This seems to surprise him a little bit, but he quickly recovers. “Now why don’t you let the lady speak for herself?” He asks, looking around Hope at Kelley, who’s watching nervously.

 

“I want nothing to do with you. Leave me alone.” Kelley shouts, angrily. The man tilts his head a little bit, but seems otherwise unfazed by Kelley’s tone. He then turns to Christen. “How about you, pretty lady, you still mad at me? Or you want a drink?” He asks. Tobin stands next to Christen, her arms crossed over her chest defensively. Christen raises her eyebrows, but is ready to lash out at the man.

 

Hope rolls her eyes and puts her hand out, as she moves to block Christen from his view. “Newsflash, pal, we’re all with women tonight. No one wants you.” She looks him dead in the eye, trying to get her point across. She can see the man getting angry, and she has the experience with intoxicated men to know this may not end peacefully.

 

He shakes his head at Hope. “You’re no lesbian. I can see it. You’ve had a dick or two. Just haven’t had the right one yet. And you sure do like talkin’ to me.” He states, giving her a once over and reaching his hand out to take hers. Hope tries to rip her hand away from his reach, but he’s undeterred and grabs her wrist, giving her a tug towards him. Her eyes scan the outskirts of the dance floor, hoping to see someone that can help.

 

She finally sees a bouncer and waves her hand at him. It gets his attention and he makes his way over. The man’s eyes widen, as he sees someone bigger than he is making his way over and he drops Hope’s wrist like it burns him. “What’s up, Hope?” The brunette isn’t fazed by him knowing her name, as she’s rather well-known in the New York industry.

 

The women tell him what happened and the bouncer immediately turns to the man, who’s clearly ready to lash out. “Either you leave them alone or I toss you out on your ass, which option would you like to take?” The bouncer asks, his tone hard. The man looks at Hope, clearly blaming her for the situation he’s currently in.

 

He rolls his eyes and turns on his heel, stalking his way back to his friends. The bouncer follows him step for step, clearly throwing in more threats in case the man wants to bother them again. Hope sighs and looks at her friends. “You guys okay?” She asks, to break the silence. She’s used to drunk men being overbearing and creepy, but she knows that for those that aren’t used to it, it can be scary.

 

She gets a nod from Tobin and a ‘yes’ from both Christen and Kelley. Everyone seems to have sobered themselves. They decide to call it a night, as the women are all shaken from their encounter. Kelley insists that Tobin and Christen stay at her apartment for the night so they don’t have to walk all the way back to Tobin’s by themselves in the dark. The couple agrees and they all walk quickly back to Hope and Kelley’s building.

 

They make it to the building and walk upstairs, where Hope stands awkwardly near her door. “Night, guys.” She says, as she unlocks her door. Kelley shakes her head and grabs Hope’s arm to turn her around. “Not goodnight. Go grab some clothes and come to mine. We’ll watch a movie and I’ll make breakfast in the morning.”

 

Hope nods and opens her apartment door, while Kelley turns to let her friends into her own apartment. “I’ll come back with Hope. You know where my clothes are if you want to borrow something to sleep in.” Kelley says to them before turning around and walking into Hope’s.

 

Hope closes the door behind them and is about to ask Kelley what she’s doing, when she feels the shorter woman’s arms wrap around her waist. Hope hugs her back, confusedly. “Thank you for stepping in and stopping that creep. That could have ended much worse.” The brunette nods and hugs her friend a little bit tighter. “Chris and Tobs are thankful too, they’re just still a little bit shaken up.” She pulls away and leans up to place a lingering kiss on Hope’s cheek.

 

“Now go change so we can choose the movie. Christen will have us watching Disney in no time.” Hope laughs, before making her way to her bedroom. She changes quickly and she and Kelley walk across the hall. “I’m a cuddler, just so you know.” Kelley mentions casually, as she opens her door. Hope tilts her head, but doesn’t say anything as they approach Tobin and Christen who are in the living room.

 

Hope quickly learns that Kelley wasn’t joking about her cuddle tendencies, as she finds herself with Kelley’s head on her shoulder and her arms around her. They quickly realize they aren’t gonna make it through the entire movie and cut it short, promising to finish it the next day. Hope and Kelley make their way to the bedroom, while Tobin and Christen take the pull-out couch. After an exhausting day at work, then out with her friends, Hope finds herself quickly drifting off to sleep.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being bigger than I expected and with that, comes a lot of context and a lot of progress.
> 
> Let me know what you think!

 

 

Since that night, Hope’s found herself with a few more friends. Hope almost immediately got Christen and Tobin’s approval after she had de-escalated the situation at the bar. The brunette has been invited to hang out with Kelley and her friends multiple times in the few weeks that have passed since then.

 

It’s a Thursday afternoon and Kelley invited Hope to go out for lunch with her. Neither of them have mentioned their almost-kiss at the club. Hope has thought about bringing it up, but she knows it was probably nothing more than a spur of the moment type of thing, for Kelley.

 

“Kelley, you can’t just sit wherever you want.” Hope whispers, nervously, as Kelley sits down at a booth. Kelley shrugs. “They weren’t seating us. They’ll let me sit here, watch.” She replies. “Tobin!” The shorter woman calls out. “I’m sitting here.” She finishes, earning a thumbs up from Tobin, who’s dressed in uniform.

 

“See.” Kelley says, clearly impressed with herself. Hope rolls her eyes. “I didn’t know Tobin works here.” Hope mentions. Kelley shrugs and smiles, when their waitress finally approaches. “I told you, you’ve gotta stop doing that.” The brunette waitress says. “Calm down, Al. I told Tobs I was gonna sit here.” The waitress shakes her head at her friend, but glances at Hope.

 

“Hey, Hope.” Alex says, kindly.  Hope gives a small smile to Alex and sends her a wave. “What’re you guys up to?” She asks, kindly. Kelley shrugs. “We were hungry and I knew you guys were working.” She replies, easily. Alex nods, before placing a hand on Hope’s side of the booth and leaning her weight on it.

 

“Becca told me what happened the other night. I told you to stop fucking my friends.” Alex says, clearly frustrated with Kelley. Hope looks down at the table and zones herself out of the conversation, focusing instead on looking over the menu. They speak for another minute or so in hushed voices, before Alex finally walks away.

 

Kelley grimaces at Hope. “Sorry. Didn’t know she’d find out about that.” Hope shrugs it off. “It’s fine.” She says, simply. She picks up her menu again and tries to pick something to order. “Damn.” Hope hears Kelley mutter. She looks at Kelley to see her eyes focused on the hostess’ station. The brunette turns around to see a thin woman with long blonde hair getting ready to seat a table.

 

“I didn’t know they got a new hostess…I approve.” Hope rolls her eyes at Kelley, shaking her head to herself. The shorter woman tilts her head at her friend. “What? You can’t tell me she’s not hot.” Hope shrugs. “Not my type.” She mentions, quietly.

 

This perks Kelley’s interest. “Well, what’s your type?” She asks, curiously. Hope shrugs. “Not her.” Kelley smiles at the obvious answer. “Well, are you into women?” She finally asks, getting to the point. Hope nods, without much hesitation. “You know I am.”

 

“Well I know you’re into me, but everyone is so…” Kelley trails off and Hope gives her a look. “I’m bi.” She deadpans. Kelley puckers her lips, nodding. She looks Hope up and down, before winking. “Well, in that case….” She trails off, smirking. Hope sighs and has an internal battle with herself.

 

“We almost kissed.” She blurts out, looking across the table at Kelley, nervously. The freckled woman raises her eyebrows at the change in conversation. “We did.” She shrugs as if to say ‘so what’, trying to appear nonchalant about the situation. Hope tilts her head. “It didn’t mean anything, did it?” The taller woman asks, knowingly.

 

Kelley shrugs. “We were having fun, neighbor. That’s all.” She states, leaving no room for more conversation. Hope looks down at the table for a second, before meeting Kelley’s eyes. “Right.” She says, softly.

 

Just as Kelley’s about to make a joke to break the tension, Alex appears with their drinks. Hope looks at her phone and pretends to read a notification. “Shit.” She says. The two women look at her. “Sorry, I have to go. They need me at the club.” She says, before standing abruptly.

 

“It’s 2 o’clock, what could they need you for?” Kelley asks, her eyebrows furrowed in suspicion. Hope shrugs as she gathers her phone and wallet. “I’ll see you later.” She throws over her shoulder, before walking out the door.

 

Kelley and Alex look at each other and the waitress tilts her head at her friend. “Something happen?” She asks. Kelley leans forward and places her forehead on her hands, which are resting on the table. “I almost kissed her.” She mumbles. Alex sits down in Hope’s empty seat. “What?”

 

Kelley sits up and lets out a frustrated breath. “I almost kissed Hope a couple weeks ago and she brought it up.” Alex raises her eyebrows. She’s surprised that Hope would bring it up, considering from what she knows of the tall woman, she’s rather closed off.

 

“And?” The waitress presses. “I brushed it off.” Kelley replies, her eyes focused on the table in front of her, knowing what Alex’s reaction will be. Alex shakes her head. “Kell…” She trails off. Kelley looks at her. “I know, okay? I know. I wasn’t expecting her to bombard me like that and I panicked.” Alex rolls her eyes at her friend. This isn’t the first time her friend has brushed off someone’s feelings, but it is the first time that she’s cared about them.

 

“Asking you about it isn’t ‘bombarding’ you, Kelley. She probably just wanted to know how you feel about her and instead of telling her the truth, you made her out to be another one of your nightly fucks.” Alex says. She knows how Kelley is about feelings and relationships, but she also knows that Hope means more to her than she’s letting on.

 

Kelley places her face in her hands. “I know, okay? I get it, but I’m not ready for that yet. I like her, but I’m not ready for that.” Alex shakes her head, once again, before standing. “Well, just don’t be surprised if she stops waiting for you to be ready. You’ve been avoiding feelings for years, Kell. Years. I know you’re scared of getting hurt, but I’ve never seen you like this.”

 

“Like what?” Kelley asks, looking up at her friend, curiously. “You like her. We can all see it. Tobin, Christen, everyone can see it. You have feelings for her and instead of bucking up and acting on them, you’re brushing her off and sleeping with anyone that’ll come home with you. You’re only hurting yourself. And Hope.” She finishes. She doesn’t wait for her friend to respond, before walking away to leave Kelley with her thoughts.

 

Kelley closes her eyes for a few seconds. She takes a sip of her water and looks across the table at Hope’s untouched iced tea. She sighs, before leaving a five-dollar-bill on the table for Alex and walking out of the restaurant.

 

* * *

 

 

Hope walks out of the restaurant and walks quickly back to her apartment. She needed to get herself out of that embarrassing situation. Kelley knows about her feelings and completely brushed them off like they’re nothing.

 

She knows she’s kidding herself. Kelley doesn’t want to settle down right now and even if she did, it wouldn’t be with someone like Hope. It’d be with a doctor, or a lawyer, or something of the sort. A club owner with a battered past and a cold heart isn’t appealing to anyone, let alone a college grad with a bright future.

 

The brunette takes in a shaky breath, as she unlocks her apartment door. She walks inside and heads straight to her bedroom, where she slides under her blankets and hides from the world. She wishes she could disappear and never have to face Kelley again. She replays the conversation in her head and grimaces. It couldn’t have been worse for her and now Kelley probably thinks she’s desperate. Walking out like she did only made it worse.

 

* * *

 

 

Kelley walks into Arena and notes how empty it is. Only about ten people are sat at the bar, leaving Kelley confused as to what could have come up to make Hope rush out on her. “What can I get for you?” A bartender asks, as Kelley sits down on a bar stool.

 

“I’m actually here to see Hope.” She states. The bartender shakes her head. “Sorry, she’s not in today.” Kelley tilts her head. “She said she was coming here.” The freckled woman says, knowingly. She figures that Hope doesn’t want to talk and is hiding away in her office. “She doesn’t come in most Thursdays. I haven’t seen her today.” The woman deadpans.

 

Kelley stays silent for a few seconds, thoughts of Hope’s whereabouts flickering through her mind. “I’ll take a shot of tequila.” She says. She throws the alcohol down her throat and throws money on the counter before leaving, heading straight back to her apartment building. She doesn’t bother trying to talk to Hope. She knows the woman won’t answer the door even if she is home and Kelley isn’t ready to talk.

 

* * *

 

 

 

It’s a Friday night and Kelley has finally convinced Hope to skip out on work and go out with her and her friends. They never talked about what happened at the restaurant, instead they just ignored it ever happened and went on normally.

 

She tells Hope to head to her apartment once she’s ready so they can pregame. Kelley is already two drinks in when she finally hears a knock at her door.

 

“It’s about t-“ She cuts herself off, as her eyes trail up Hope’s body. The taller woman is wearing a tight black dress that hugs her thighs and Kelley can only imagine how her ass looks in it. It’s a halter top, showing off the woman’s strong shoulders and toned arms. Her hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail, showing off her collarbones. She has her black high heeled shoes in her hand, leaving her feet bare for the time being.

 

Hope smirks, as she watches Kelley lick her lips. She rolls her eyes and pushes past the woman and into the apartment. “When’s everyone else getting here?” She asks. Kelley blinks for a few seconds, before allowing the door to fall closed and following Hope into the kitchen.

 

Her eyes stay glued to Hope’s ass. It may be the alcohol that’s already flowing through her veins, but she’s never been so attracted to Hope. “They-um, they’ll be here in like 15 minutes. I still need to change.” Hope nods, as she grabs herself a beer from Kelley’s fridge. “Just hang out here, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

 

Hope cracks open her beer and walks her way around Kelley’s living room. She looks at the pictures of Kelley and her friends, Kelley and (who she assumes to be) her family. Hope smiles at the sight of a very young Kelley, only about 8 or 9, fishing with her father at a pond.

 

“Ready.” Kelley states, as she walks into the living room. Hope jumps at the unexpected voice and whips her body around to see Kelley in a dress of her own. Hope raises her eyebrows and takes along swig of her beer to try and play off the fact that she’s somewhat speechless, as she looks at Kelley.

 

She’s wearing a peach-colored dress that’s even tighter than Hope’s. So tight that her ab muscles can be seen poking through the fabric and her breasts look bigger than they usually do. Kelley tilts her head, amusedly, and waits for Hope’s eyes to meet her own.

 

When they finally lock eyes, Kelley sees a fire in Hope’s eyes that she’s never seen before. The smirk drops from Kelley’s face and she quickly walks towards Hope. Hope places her beer down on the side table and meets Kelley halfway. The shorter woman grabs Hope by the back of the neck and is just about to pull her into a heated kiss, when they hear the doorbell.

 

Kelley lets out a long, disappointed breath and gives Hope a look of frustration, before making her way to the front door. She buzzes her friends in and waits until they make their way upstairs. “Perfect timing guys.” She says. She tries keeping the sarcasm out of her voice, but internally she lets it run wild.

 

Hope grabs her beer and heads to the kitchen. “Hope, you know everyone, except for Allie. Allie, this is Hope.” She points to the brunette, who waves somewhat awkwardly. Allie smiles at her and gives her a nod.

 

“We drinking here first or heading straight there?” Allie asks, looking at Kelley. Kelley shrugs, looking at everyone else for their opinions. “Let’s just go.” Alex states, making an executive decision. At that, everyone gets their things together. Hope chugs the remainder of her beer and puts her heels on.

 

The walk to the club isn’t long. Hope insisted on them not going to her own club for the night. She doesn’t like mixing work with play. They pay their cover fees and head inside, immediately searching for a table. There’s an awkwardness between Hope and Kelley, as they both know what almost happened before they were interrupted at the apartment.

 

Kelley goes to the bar and buys everyone their drinks and Hope goes with her to help carry them back to the table. Hope sits down at a stool as they wait for their drinks to be made. “Are we okay?” Kelley asks, finally, standing right next to her friend. Hope looks up at her and nods. “We’re good.” Kelley nods, relieved, before grabbing the drinks that were placed in front of them.

 

It takes them three rounds of drinks before they all loosen up enough to get on the dance floor. Alex finds herself dancing with an attractive gay man, who turns out to be a great dancer. Ali and Allie dance together and Christen is grinding herself into Tobin’s front, leaving Hope and Kelley by themselves. Hope watches Kelley move to the beat and feels the alcohol coursing through her. The group gets another drink, while Hope and Kelley take a shot of tequila.

 

They head back to the dance floor and Kelley finally says ‘fuck it’ and grabs Hope’s hand to pull her closer. The alcohol gives her all the confidence she needs to make the first move. Hope finds herself with her thigh between Kelley’s legs, as they grind to the beat. She feels herself becoming increasingly turned on and knows this night may end differently than she or Kelley could have predicted.

 

Kelley brings her mouth to Hope’s ear. “I want you.” She breathes out. Hope can just barely hear her over the music, but feels her stomach clench at the words. She doesn’t hesitate in pulling Kelley into an open-mouthed kiss. Their teeth clash in the effort to get closer to one another and Kelley allows her hands to wonder down to Hope’s ass.

 

Hope moans into her mouth and brings her hands to Kelley’s lower back to ground herself. Kelley grinds herself onto Hope’s thigh and tangles her fingers in the taller woman’s hair. They kiss for what feels like hours, before they finally break apart. Their lips are swollen and red and Kelley can’t help but think Hope’s never looked sexier.

 

“Let’s go.” Kelley says into Hope’s ear. Hope nods and watches as Kelley makes her way to Alex to let her know they’re leaving. Hope’s face reddens, as Alex looks at her then back to Kelley and gives the woman a look that says ‘I know what’s happening here’.

 

Kelley grabs Hope’s hand and leads her out of the club and onto the rather deserted sidewalk. They walk quickly and silently, both of them focused on getting back to their apartment building. When they finally make it back, Kelley unlocks her apartment door and they barely make it inside before her lips are on Hope’s.

 

Hope’s doubts and worries take a backseat to the feeling of Kelley’s lips on her own. They just make it to the bedroom when Kelley unzips the back of Hope’s dress. Hope shakes it off, allowing it to fall into a pool beneath her feet.

 

The night goes by in a blur and Hope awakes to the sound of a car horn right outside Kelley’s room. She looks to her left to see Kelley still asleep next to her. She sits up in bed and immediately starts searching the floor for her panties, which she finds not far from the bed. She quietly dresses herself and steps over Kelley’s dress on her way out of the room.

 

As soon as she gets back to her apartment, she goes to the bathroom and looks at herself in the mirror. Her makeup is smeared on her face and her hair has a ‘just fucked’ look about it. She sighs and steps into the shower. She’s unsure of what last night meant to Kelley. She knows she’s probably hoping for too much for it to have meant something more than a random hook-up, but her feelings for the woman don’t allow her to hope for anything less.

 

When Kelley finally wakes up, the first thing she notices is that she’s naked. The events from last night unfold in her head and she buries her face into her pillow at the thought of having to face Hope. She finds herself relieved to see that her apartment is empty. It’s not that she doesn’t want Hope to be here, she’s just unsure of what to say to her.

 

* * *

 

 

A week passes before they cross paths again. Hope knows Kelley’s been avoiding her. It hurts that she clearly didn’t mean enough to Kelley to talk to her about what happened. She’s just willing to sweep in under the rug and pretend like it didn’t happen, just like she did before.

 

“Oh hey.” Kelley says, as she leaves her apartment to find Hope just coming home from what looks to have been a run. Hope smiles, tightly, at her. “Hey, Kell.” She replies, shortly. Kelley ignores the tone and tries to act as normal as possible. “Are you going into work tonight?”

 

Hope nods. “Cool, well I think we’re all headed there tonight so maybe I’ll see you there.” Kelley says, smiling kindly at her. Hope nods again. “Okay, sounds good.” She says, simply. She unlocks her apartment and Kelley watches awkwardly. “I’ll see you tonight then.” Kelley says, before heading towards the stairs. Hope doesn’t bother replying and walks inside.

 

For Hope, that night meant more than a one-night stand. She knew what she was doing; she wasn’t that drunk. Kelley pretending that nothing happened is making everything that she feared come to be reality.

 

* * *

 

 

Kelley and Alex head to the club together. The rest of their friends are meeting them there. “So, what ever happened with Hope?” Alex asks, curiously. They hadn’t had the chance to talk since last weekend, but Alex knows something happened that night.

 

Kelley sighs. “We had sex. She was gone when I woke up.” She explains. She knows she fucked up, but she doesn’t know how to handle it. “Have you talked since?” Kelley shrugs at the question. “We talked today, but not about that. It was awkward. I just don’t know what to do. I know she has feelings for me so what happened probably fucked with her head even more. I didn’t even think about it at the time.”

 

Alex raises her eyebrows at that. “You have feelings for her too, Kell.” She says, knowingly. Kelley hesitates. “I know, I just…I don’t think I’m ready for that. I just don’t want to hurt her.” Alex nods. “Well, let’s get you drunk, then you’ll tell me how you really feel about her.” She jokes, earning a glare from Kelley.

 

* * *

 

 

Hope finds herself helping the wait staff. The bar is well covered, but the wait staff is struggling a bit with the amount of orders coming out. She grabs a tray of drinks from the bar and heads to the table, immediately noticing it’s Kelley and her friends. “Oh hey, Hope!” Allie says. Hope smiles. “Hey, guys.”

 

She passes the drinks out and avoids looking at Kelley, who’s pointedly trying to make eye contact with her. “Let me know if you need anything else.” She says, simply, before walking away. Everyone at the table looks at each other, somewhat surprised with Hope’s short tone. “Kell, what’d you do to her?” Tobin asks. Kelley’s jaw drops in offence. “I didn’t do anything to her” She exclaims. “We fucked, that’s it. I don’t know what she’s expecting from me.”

 

Everyone immediately understands what happened. They’ve seen it before with Kelley, but Tobin notices the look of concern on Kelley’s face, which is something she hasn’t seen before. “Dude, she clearly likes you. And you like her…what’s the big deal? Just tell her.”

 

Kelley shakes her head. “I don’t like her like that.” She says, unconvincingly. She knows that Alex is aware of how she feels about Hope, but she doesn’t need her whole circle of friends knowing about her feelings.

 

“Then why’d you have sex with her?” Ali asks. Kelley shrugs. “She’s sexy.” She states. “And you like her personality….” Ali trails off. Kelley nods at first, but shakes her head when she realizes where this is heading. She slides out of the booth. “I don’t like her like that.” She says, convincing nobody, before heading towards the dance floor.

 

Hope switches with Carli and starts helping behind the bar after a couple of hours on the floor. She glances to the dance floor to see how many people are still here and her eyes find Kelley. She’s dancing with a blonde woman. Hope shakes her head at herself and refocuses on the task at hand.

 

About an hour later, things start slowing down and Hope has some downtime. Her eyes see movement and she looks up to see Kelley leading the blonde woman out of the club. Her stomach drops and she feels like she’s been kicked in the throat. Her eyes well up and she looks to find Carli, who’s serving a table their drinks. _I was nothing more than sex, to her._

 

“I’m heading home for the night. You’ll lock everything up?” She asks, trying to keep it together. Carli nods, her face immediately showing concern. “Everything okay?” Hope nods, but she doesn’t do anything to convince Carli. She walks away before she can be questioned any further. She barely makes it outside before she feels the first tear make its way down her face.

 

“Hope.” She hears a voice call her name. She wipes at her face and turns around to see Alex trailing after her. “Are you alright?” Alex asks, as she approaches. Hope nods, trying to put on a façade. Alex sighs. “She’s an idiot, Hope.” She says, bluntly. Hope shakes her head and looks down. “It’s my own fault. I expected too much.” She shrugs.

 

Alex reaches out to place a comforting hand on Hope’s forearm. She looks at her red-rimmed eyes and internally berates Kelley for what she’s doing. “It isn’t your fault.” Hope takes a step backwards, feeling herself become emotional again. “I have to get home. Bye, Alex.” She says, before turning around and quickly walking away. Alex watches her leave. There isn’t anything she can do to fix the situation, no matter how much she wants to help.

 

As she walks into her apartment, she looks across the hallway to the closed door of her neighbor. She tries to ignore what she knows is happening in there, but her chest tightens at the fact that Kelley used her and threw her away like she was nothing. _Just like they all do._

 

She doesn’t get any sleep that night. Her mind is racing, trying to convince herself that Kelley isn’t worth her time, that she shouldn’t be so hurt. But they were friends. Before anything else, they were friends. They spent more time together than Hope’s allowed herself to spend with anyone else since moving here. She enjoys closing people out because it keeps her heart safe: unbroken.

 

Now, she feels used, she feels betrayed, and she feels like she never mattered to Kelley. She was just a warm body and now she wants nothing to do with her.

 

The sun is just rising when she faintly hears a door closing. She knows it’s Kelley’s door and she knows who’s walking out of it. It’s at that moment she decides she’s not going to sit here and feel sorry for herself any longer. She can play Kelley’s game and she can play it better than her.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna try for once a week on these updates. Lots of context/backstory in this chapter.
> 
> Comments are always appreciated!

 

 

It’s a Saturday night and Hope knows Kelley’s going to be going out with her friends like she does every weekend. So, she takes out her tightest dress, a red dress that hugs her figure perfectly. She waits until about ten o’clock and she opens her apartment door to see Kelley standing right in front of her.

 

She startles, jumping backwards at the unexpected figure. “Sorry. I was just coming to see if you wanted to come out with us, but it looks like you already have plans.” Kelley explains. Hope nods. “I’m going out.” Kelley looks at her, suspiciously. “With who?”

 

Hope falters, a little bit, but speaks confidently. “By myself.” Kelley laughs. The reaction pisses Hope off, but she bites her tongue. “Come out with us. You shouldn’t go out alone, it’s dangerous.” Hope looks at her for a few seconds. She doesn’t want to give into Kelley, but she may just have an idea that could work in this situation. “Fine.” She agrees.

 

“You look good tonight.” Kelley states, as she leads Hope into her apartment to wait for Tobin and Christen to arrive. Hope clenches her jaw. “Thanks.” She states, neutrally. A part of her thinks Kelley is toying with her.

 

“Just hang out here, I still have to get ready.” Kelley says, as she heads down the short hallway to her bedroom. Hope watches her leave. She’s still pissed at Kelley. She wants to just yell at her, ask her why she treated her like a common whore, but she stays silent.

 

Kelley comes back out in the same dress that she wore a few weeks ago. The first thing Hope thinks of is how she stepped over that dress on her way out of Kelley’s apartment the morning after. “They should be here soo-“ She’s interrupted by the buzzing sound. She lets out a breathy laugh and buzzes her friends in.

 

“Hey, Hope, I didn’t know you were coming.” Tobin mentions, as she walks inside. Hope shrugs. “It was a last-minute thing.” She says, simply. Tobin nods and they all head down the stairs, not wasting any time in getting to the club. Once arrived, they get drinks and Hope takes a shot of whiskey to start off her night.

 

They make small talk, while Hope sits silently and observes the crowd. She makes eye contact with an attractive woman with brunette hair who’s even taller than she is. The woman motions for Hope to come dance with her and Hope wastes no time in complying. _It’s time for Kelley to get a taste of her own medicine._

 

“I’m Hope.” The brunette says, loudly, as she takes the woman’s hand. “Laura.” The woman replies. “Dance with me.” She requests. Hope nods in response and allows the other woman to take the lead. Hope feels the woman’s hands turn her around by the waist so her ass is pressed into the woman’s front.

 

They dance to the beat and Hope allows Laura to run her hands along her hips and stomach. Hope looks back towards the table and makes eye contact with Kelley. She keeps her eyes locked on her neighbors, as she takes Laura’s hands and guides them to her ribs, just under her breasts. Hope knows it’s immature, she knows it’s not going to help much, but she’s so beyond upset at Kelley, she doesn’t care. She wants Kelley to realize what she’s put her through for the past few weeks.

 

Kelley glares at Hope, shooting daggers in her direction. She looks Hope directly in the eyes and motions for her to come back to the table. Hope subtly shakes her head. At this, Kelley downs the rest of her drink and stands up. She makes her way over to Hope and Laura.

 

She approaches Hope and begins dancing to the beat. Hope stays with Laura and tries ignoring Kelley, who’s clearly pissed off. She offers a hand to Hope, but the brunette shakes her head. Laura looks between the two women, just now noticing the tension in the air. “You okay, baby?” She asks, in Hope’s ear.

 

Hope nods her head, in response and pushes her ass firmer against the woman’s hips. Hope keeps her eyes locked on Kelley’s. Kelley grabs Hope’s forearm. “Dance with me.” She yells over the music. Hope pushes her hands away. “No.” She states. Kelley rolls her eyes and reaches out to grab her again. When Hope shakes her head again, Laura has finally had enough. She gently moves Hope away from her.

 

“You’re gorgeous, but I’m not getting in the middle of whatever this is.” She says, to Hope, pointing between her and Kelley. Hope’s shoulders slump, as she watches Laura walk away. She shoots a glare at Kelley. “Happy now?” She asks, angrily. Kelley shrugs, smirking. “I am.” She admits.

 

“Now you can dance with me.” Kelley states, reaching out for Hope’s hand. The taller woman moves away, out of Kelley’s reach. Kelley sighs and tries again. “Hope, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, okay? Please, just dance with me. We can talk about everything later.” She says, reaching out again.

 

“Kelley, stop.” She says, abruptly, before turning on her heel. Kelley furrows her eyebrows and watches as Hope walks away. She takes a few seconds, before her feet start moving in the same direction. “Hope, wait.” She calls out, as they make their way to the sidewalk. She sends a quick text to Tobin while she walks to let her know where they were going.

 

The taller woman doesn’t respond to Kelley’s calls, in favor of continuing to walk in the direction of their apartment building. Kelley gives up on trying to talk and instead walks silently behind Hope, trying to keep pace.

 

“Stop.” Kelley says finally, as they go up the stairs. Hope doesn’t respond, she just opens her apartment door and heads inside, not caring whether Kelley makes it in behind her or not. Kelley catches the door and follows Hope inside the apartment. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

 

Hope spins around, angrily. Her eyes are red and watery. “You fucking know. You know how I feel and you’re fucking with my head. I can’t do this anymore Kelley, it’s killing me.” Kelley sighs. She didn’t mean to make Hope more confused or angry.

 

She takes a step towards Hope, but the taller woman retreats backwards. “Stop. Come here.” Kelley pleads. Hope looks down at her feet and allows Kelley to approach her. She doesn’t expect to feel hands cup her face. Kelley places her hands on both sides of Hope’s jaw and tilts her head up. “I wasn’t fucking with you.” She says, softly.

 

Hope looks at her with furrowed eyebrows, clearly confused. Kelley leans in and kisses Hope with all she has. The feeling of her lips against hers burns in the best way possible and she feels Hope sigh into her mouth, before pulling away. “Please, don’t.” She pleads, in a defeated tone. Kelley looks at her dead in the eye. “I like you, Hope.”

 

Hope blinks a few times, with furrowed eyebrows. “What do you mean?” She asks, trying to find some sort of clarity to the situation. “I do have feelings for you.” Hope looks down and away from Kelley. She wants to be hopeful, but she can’t help but feel like she’s still being messed with. Again. “I just-I-Since when?” She asks, her voice desperate for answers.

 

Kelley bites her lips. She expected a better reaction than what she’s getting from Hope, but she understands. She may have taken too long to admit her feelings and, in the process, she may have had too much fun with teasing the older woman. “I don’t know, Hope. I’ve always liked you, I just haven’t been ready to tell you. Even now that I have, I don’t know where to go from here.”

 

“You don’t know where to go from here?” Hope asks, defensively. Kelley looks down. “I just-I don’t know how to be in a relationship. I haven’t been in one in years and I don’t want to hurt you in the process of relearning.” Hope rolls her eyes. “I haven’t been in a relationship in a while either, Kelley, and you don’t see me running. You’re the one who’s holding back.”

 

“Hope, I wish I could be what you want, but I’m not. I’m bad at being a girlfriend. You don’t want to get involved with me.” Hope looks down. She went from hopeful to disappointed in a matter of minutes. Kelley looks at Hope and sighs. The freckled woman knows she’s holding back the real reasoning and seeing Hope so hurt kills her. The shorter woman reaches out and grabs Hope’s hands with her own.

 

“I was engaged.” Kelley says, softly. Hope’s eyes snap up to hers, but she doesn’t say anything, waiting for Kelley to continue. “I was engaged to the most perfect woman in the world.” She says, softly. She feels Hope’s hands fall slack, but she keeps her hold. Hope bites her lips, but allows Kelley to explain.

 

“We had made plans. We were gonna get married and have children and buy a house just outside of the city. We met during my freshman year and I’ve never been more in love. When I decided to transfer to NYU for my senior year, she came with me. She rented a small, shitty apartment in Manhattan, while I lived on campus.” She says, smiling softly, at the memory of that tiny, studio apartment they had spent so much time in. Hope’s eyebrows furrow in confusion and hurt. ‘Why is Kelley telling me this?’ She thinks.

 

“And then she was gone.” She states. Hope looks at her, noting Kelley’s watery eyes. “What do you mean?” The shorter woman trembles and smiles sadly. “She was walking home from my dorm one night, at the end of my senior year. I just-I was gonna walk with her, but I had a final to study for and she insisted that I stayed.” Tears start falling from Kelley’s eyes, as she looks up at Hope.

 

“They-um, they found her the next day in a back alley. Someone killed her. They still haven’t found who did it.” She allows the tears to fall freely and Hope looks shocked. Kelley lets go of Hope’s hands to wipe her face. “Ever since, I haven’t allowed myself to act on any feelings. Being unattached is just easier, it’s better for me because I don’t think I can be with anyone except for her.”

 

Hope pulls her into a tight hug, as Kelley shakes with sobs. It’s been 3 years since Nicky died and Kelley is still broken. She doesn’t know how to be with someone else. She had it all figured out, her life was set and that was all taken away from her in one night.

 

“I’m so sorry.” Hope whispers in Kelley’s ear. Kelley holds onto Hope. She knows how she feels about the taller woman and it scares the shit out of her. She also knows she needs to decide if it’s worth the risk or not.

 

Kelley focuses on Hope’s hand rubbing up and down her back and slowly calms down. “I understand, Kell.” The freckled woman pulls away and wipes her eyes, before looking at Hope. She notes the redness in the brunette’s eyes, but doesn’t mention it.

 

“What do you understand?” She asks, confused as to what Hope’s referring to. Hope smiles, sadly. “No one will ever be her and I can’t try and fill her shoes. Regardless of how you feel, regardless of how I feel, I’m not her.” Kelley sighs. Now that she’s calmed herself down, she can articulate how she’s feeling in a better way.

 

“You aren’t her, but that isn’t a bad thing. You’re actually opposites, honestly.” Kelley says, chuckling. “She was open and extroverted and wild. You-You are calm and introverted and stable and everything she wasn’t. And I’ll always love her.” She says, looking directly in Hope’s eyes. “I’ll _always_ love her.” She emphasizes.

 

“But that doesn’t mean that I can’t love someone else just as much. That doesn’t mean that I can’t find someone who loves me as much as she did. Hope, I-this is a lot. This is a lot for you to take in and I understand if it’s too much for you. My baggage weighs a whole lot and I drag it with me wherever I go. I would love to kiss you right now, I’d love to know that you’re willing to be with me knowing I loved someone else with everything I had. Knowing that I still love her as much as I did back then. But if you aren’t, I understand completely and I do still want to be your friend.”

 

Hope blinks a few times and looks down at the floor below Kelley’s feet. She reaches up to wipe a stray tear that creeped its way down her face. She takes a deep breath and looks at Kelley, whose face is blotchy and red, eyes still shining with tears. She’s never looked more beautiful to Hope.

 

The taller woman reaches out and pulls Kelley to her, gently, before taking her face in her hands and kissing her, just barely. Their lips ghost over each other, before Hope softly brings her closer. Kelley sighs into the kiss and grabs fistfuls of Hope’s hair, kissing her harder.

 

Kelley pulls away after a couple of minutes and kisses Hope on the forehead. “I’m sorry.” She says, against her skin, before pulling away. Hope looks at her with her bright blue eyes. “I treated you like shit. I shouldn’t have ignored what happened between us for so long. Even Alex was mad at me about it.” She mentions, laughing softly. “You didn’t deserve that.” She finishes.

 

Hope nods. “I know, I know, it’s okay. Just don’t ignore that tonight happened, okay?” She says, nervously smiling. Kelley smiles and leans up to give her a lingering kiss. “I won’t.”

 

* * *

 

 

It’s Monday night and Hope and Kelley find themselves sitting in Kelley’s living room. They both have a glass of wine in their hands, even though Kelley grimaces after each sip she takes. “I don’t know how you drink this shit. Nicky used to drink it too, but hers was even worse than this.” She motions to the red liquid.

 

Hope smirks. “I’ve been in the bar scene for ten years, I like pretty much all alcohols. Except for Jägermeister. That shit’s gross.” Hope scrunches her nose at the thought. Kelley raises her eyebrows, internally deciding to make sure she sees Hope take a Jäger bomb shot at some point.  

 

“When did you decide you wanted to own a club?” Kelley asks, curiously. Hope shrugs. “I didn’t have the money to go to college, so I started out bartending at a club and I loved the atmosphere. I guess I just grew into the idea when I realized I didn’t need a college degree to achieve it.”

 

“Your parents were okay with you not going to school?” She asks. She doesn’t think about the weight of her question until she sees Hope’s face fall. She’s just about to take the question back when Hope starts explaining.

 

“No. My dad died during my last month of high school and after that my mom didn’t really want much to do with me so...anyway, she didn’t have the money to send me and I sure as hell didn’t have the grades for a full-ride. I didn’t want to take on 100k in loans.” She takes a sip of wine and adjusts so she’s sitting cross-legged on the couch.  

 

“Why? Your mom, I mean.” Kelley asks, trying to figure Hope out. The brunette looks at her glass and swirls the liquid around. “I-um-“ She cuts herself off and takes a breath before continuing. “I played soccer. For most of my life, I was a goalkeeper. I ended up getting a scholarship to the University of Washington to play. Then, I was at a party. It was a prom after-party and we were all drinking. I…I thought I was okay to drive myself home and, as it turns out, I wasn’t. I blew through a red light and gone t-boned by a pick-up truck. Luckily, the man driving the truck was okay.” She stops for a second to gulp down the rest of her wine.

 

“It was bad. My car was basically bent in half and I ended up being hospitalized for a few days. When the police told my family what happened, my dad went into cardiac arrest. He died right on the spot. The doctors kept telling us that it probably would have happened eventually even if he hadn’t just gotten the news of my accident, but my mom blamed me. She thought it was my fault and that if I hadn’t been drinking, if I hadn’t gotten into the accident, then he’d still be alive. My brother was on my side, for the most part, but after I graduated from high school, my mom kicked me out and basically told me I was on my own. I lost my scholarship because of the DUI, so I decided to come here. I had some money saved from my high school job so I could put up rent for a couple of months with a roommate and I got myself a bartending job. That’s where it all started, I guess.” She doesn’t cry, she has no more tears left for her family.

 

Kelley looks at her with sad eyes. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” She says. It’s generic and probably rather meaningless to Hope, at this point, but she isn’t sure what to say. Hope simply brushes it off and shrugs. “What did you hurt in the accident?” She asks.

 

“My shoulder basically shattered. It took most of the impact. So, I had to have reconstructive surgery.” She explains, . She had a few minor injuries to go along with it, but that was the major setback. “So, you don’t talk to anyone in your family anymore?” Hope shakes her head. She leans forward to pick up the bottle and pours herself more wine.

 

“No. I talked to my brother when I first moved here, but I haven’t really heard from him since. The last time we talked was when I moved into this apartment building about two years ago. I just gave him my address, just in case any mail was sent to the house in Washington.” She focuses on the wine glass in front of her and tries to focus on anything but Kelley.

 

Kelley doesn’t respond, verbally, instead she places her wine glass on the coffee table in front of her, stands up, and makes her way to Hope. She plops down next to her and grabs her face with her hands. Hope feels her eyes fill with tears. She was fine, until Kelley touched her.

 

The shorter woman softly pecks her on the lips a few times, before moving to her cheek. Hope lets out a shaky breath, as she wipes her eye of an escaped tear. Kelley pulls back and moves a stray hair behind her ear. Hope’s eyes focus on the wine bottle that sits on the coffee table.

 

Kelley isn’t good at comforting people. She only knows one version, so she reverts to what she knows. She grabs Hope by the back of the neck and pulls her into a deep kiss. Hope lets out a surprised moan. Kelley takes Hope’s wine glass out of her hand and places it down, before climbing onto her lap.

 

She tangles her fingers into brunette hair and pulls her closer. Hope feels Kelley’s fingers find the bottom of her t-shirt and she gives it a tug. “Off.” She says into Hope’s mouth. Hope hesitates. This is different than the first time they were together. The first time they were both drunk; they had an excuse.

 

This time they’re both sober. They both know what they’re doing. They both know the implications. All it takes is Kelley’s tongue on her neck for Hope to pull away and pull her shirt over her head.

 

* * *

 

 

“Fuck.” Kelley whispers, as Hope makes her way back up her body. She pulls her into a deep kiss and guides her to lay down next to her. Kelley climbs on top of her and Hope is just about to shake her head to deny another round, but Kelley simply plops her body down on her chest. She nuzzles her face into the brunette’s neck and places a single kiss to the bottom of her jaw.

 

Hope runs her fingers up and down Kelley’s bare back, soothing the younger woman. They find solace in the silence, allowing it to cover them like a blanket, refusing to allow the moment to be shattered by the reality of what they did, by the conversation that’s yet to come. Neither of them know where to go from here.

 

“I can hear you thinking.” Kelley mumbles into Hope’s neck. Hope opens her eyes. “You never told me you’re a mind reader.” She replies, smartly. Kelley smiles, before lifting her head so she can look at Hope.

 

“You’re a lot less attractive when you make smartass comments” Kelley says, smirking. Hope rolls her eyes and pulls Kelley into soft kiss. “You’re a shitty liar.” She says against her lips, before flipping them so Kelley’s underneath her.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Kelley going to pretend like it never happened? Or is she now committed to making it work with Hope?


	6. Chapter 6

 

 

So you’re together?” Alex asks. She and Kelley are out for breakfast the Saturday after Kelley and Hope had sober sex for the first time. Kelley shakes her head. “We’re not ‘official’ or anything. We just talked about it and made it a possibility. She was really great about the Nicky situation.”

 

Alex sighs. “How are you doing, with that?” She asks. She tries to be there for Kelley when she wants to talk about Nicky, but she also doesn’t want to constantly bring it up and upset her friend. Kelley shrugs. “As good as I can be. It still hurts, but I’m moving on. She would want me to.”

 

The brunette nods, in agreement. She had only known Nicky for about three months before her passing, but from what she knew of the woman, she loved Kelley with everything she had. “So…Hope?” She decides to change the subject to something a little more positive and Kelley smiles at the mention of her name.

 

“We’re good. I apologized for being a dick. We’re still just friends, but we made progress I guess.” Kelley tries explaining. She’s unsure of what she and Hope currently are. They insinuated that they wanted to try and move things forward in their relationship, but they haven’t even been on a date yet, nor have they discussed it.

 

After they had talked last week, they hung out at Hope’s for another hour or so before Kelley went back to her apartment. They talked more about Nicky, as Hope was curious. Kelley was okay with that. She appreciated the fact that Hope understood the importance of Nicky in Kelley’s life and was willing to listen to her talk about what their relationship had been like, even if she didn’t like hearing some of it.

 

“You should invite Hope to come with us tonight.” Alex mentions, as they walk back towards Kelley’s apartment. They plan on spending the day together before going out with Tobin, Christen, Ali, and Ash later tonight. “I did, but she’s working. I told her we’d be at Arena at some point.” Alex nods, at that.

 

They spend much of the day shopping, before heading back to Kelley’s apartment to relax for an hour or so. “Don’t do anything stupid tonight, Kell.” Alex says, seriously, as they sit down on Kelley’s couch. Kelley looks mildly offended, but Alex gives her a look and she concedes. “I know. I’ll try not to.” At that, Alex rolls her eyes.

 

“Try not to? Kelley, you’ve gotta stop ruining good things. Hope will not forgive you if you fuck this up again.” She says. She likes Hope and that’s saying a lot. Most of the girls that Kelley hang around with are obnoxious and rude and usually only want Kelley’s attention for the night. Hope’s different and both her and Kelley know it, which is why she’s so concerned that Kelley is gonna try and ruin it before it even begins.

 

“We aren’t even together, Al. She can’t get mad at me. She’s the one who isn’t locking this down.” She says, motioning to her body and moving her eyebrows up and down. The brunette shakes her head, not finding Kelley to be amusing in the slightest. She gives up on trying to debate this with her friend. She’s known Kelley for long enough that she knows the woman will do what she wants, regardless of what anyone else says.

 

* * *

 

 

Hope sighs, as she walks into the club that night. She really didn’t want to have to work tonight, but it’s the first weekend after college finals which means promotions and a whole lot of people. “Her Car.” She says, as she heads upstairs to her office. “Hey, boss.” The woman calls out, as she cuts more limes behind the bar.

 

Hope sighs, as she sits down. It’s 9 o’clock, so it’s not too busy yet, but she knows within an hour or so people will be flooding in. She sends a text to Kelley.

 

‘ _Just got here. Text me when you guys are here, I’ll come say hi.’_

 

She busies herself with paperwork, until she looks at the cameras to see the club filled to the brim. She groans, as she stands up, knowing the next five hours are going to be hell. ‘I really need to hire more workers.’ She takes a mental note. She never received a response from Kelley, but she doesn’t find it unusual as Kelley rarely replies when she’s with her friends.

 

* * *

 

 

Carli is working the floor, bringing some drinks to different tables, when she sees Kelley and her friends. Hope had told her what happened between them. She and Hope have a professional relationship, but they’ve always considered themselves to be ‘work friends’ and often come to each other for advice or other personal struggles, so when Carli sees a small brunette sitting on Kelley’s lap, her defenses come up.

 

She approaches the table and looks at Kelley, who she’d never really spoken to before. “What are you doing?” She asks, over the music. Kelley looks up at her from where she’s seated at the table and shrugs. “Drinking.” She says, simply.

 

Alex looks at Carli and shakes her head, while the rest of Kelley’s friends pretend like they haven’t noticed the confrontation. “Don’t do this to her, Kelley.” She says, seriously. The shorter woman rolls her eyes at Carli’s concern. “We aren’t even together, don’t worry about it. Stay out of our business.” Carli scoffs at that and shakes her head.

 

She gives Kelley one last glare, before moving on. She can’t sit there and argue with Kelley for the entire night. She has a job to do and she can’t ignore it in favor of fighting someone else’s battle. She told Hope from the beginning to be careful with Kelley. She knows how the woman had treated her friend and knew there would be problems, she just didn’t know that Kelley wouldn’t care.

 

“Your girl is over there.” Carli says, dryly, as she comes back to the bar to get more drinks. She knows she’s putting Hope in a difficult situation by bringing her attention to it, but Hope needs to be aware of the situation and she’s not going to cover for Kelley.

 

Hope looks up from the drink she’s making and her eyes immediately search the crowd for Kelley, but she can’t see over the mass of people. “Where?” She asks, as she places the drink in front of a middle-aged woman.

 

“Table 87.” She says, simply. She loads up her tray and walks away. She knows this isn’t gonna go well and she wants absolutely nothing to do with the drama of it.

 

Hope leaves her three other bartenders to make drinks and makes her way around the dance floor, where she finds Kelley and her friends…and someone else she’s never seen sitting next to Kelley.

 

“Hey.” She says, smiling at Kelley. “Oh hey, Hope.” Kelley replies. Hope tilts her head at the unwelcoming greeting. She had expected at least a little bit of excitement, maybe a kiss, but instead she gets a friendly smile and nod of acknowledgment. “What’re you guys up to?” She asks, to the group. Tobin looks at Kelley, expecting her to respond, but when she doesn’t she steps up.

 

“Just getting some drinks, before we head to the dance floor.” She says, motioning to the crowd of people behind Hope. The club owner furrows her eyebrows at the awkwardness of the group of friends. She looks to Kelley and finally notices the proximity of the unknown girl to the freckled woman.

 

Hope blinks a few times, as it dawns on her. ‘Oh.’ She whispers to herself. The girl whispers something in Kelley’s ear and the woman giggles at whatever she says. “Kelley.” Alex says, in frustration. She’s had enough of Kelley’s game. Kelley found this woman at the first bar they had gone to that night and invited her to come with them, much to her friends dismay.

 

“What?” She asks, giving Alex a glare. Alex nods towards Hope with wide-eyes, a look that clearly asks her friend what they hell she’s doing. Kelley finally looks up at Hope, who’s cool blue eyes are burning into her own.

 

The brunette girl looks between Hope and Kelley, clearly confused, but otherwise unbothered by the tension. Kelley breaks the silence, but only to say, “You and I aren’t even together, why are you pissed?” Hope blinks a few times and looks away. She bites her lips and nods. “Right. Well, have a good night then.” She says, coldly, before walking away.

 

She doesn’t look back and walks directly upstairs to her office. She unlocks the door and slams it closed behind her, knowing the noise won’t be heard over the music. “I’m fucking done.” She mutters to herself, as she places her hands on the edge of her desk and leans forward onto it. She feels angry tears brimming, but she refuses to let them fall.

 

Kelley doesn’t deserve her tears anymore. The woman knows what she’s doing and Hope is done with the game. She’s done with the excuses and she’s done following her like a puppy dog when Kelley clearly doesn’t care.

 

She doesn’t hear the door open and close behind her, so when she feels a gentle hand rest on her back she jumps and whips her body around. Her defenses come back down when she sees who it is. “I’m fine, Tobin. Really, I am.” She says when she sees the woman looking back at her.

 

Tobin nods. “I know. But I just wanted to make sure you know we’re here for you. Kelley is…She’s gonna have to learn the hard way that she can’t do stuff like this. We tried warning her, but she does what she wants. Regardless, I’m here if you need to talk or anything.” Hope looks down and a tear falls. She angrily swipes it away.

 

“I’m done with her. I can’t do this anymore. She’s played one too many games and I’m done with it. I thought we were on the same page and then she goes and picks up the first fucking girl she sees. You can let her know to lose my number.” The taller woman is shaking by the time she’s done talking and Tobin sighs, rubbing the back of her neck.

 

“I’m not gonna put myself in the middle of this. You’re gonna have to tell her yourself. Sorry Hope.” Tobin knows if she tells Kelley what Hope wants her to, she’ll turn into the enemy and that’s the last thing she wants. Hope nods in understanding and brings her hands to her face. She tries to rub away the tears that are still threatening to fall.

 

Just as she gets herself together, she feels arms wrap around her and she loses it. Her body trembles with sobs, her hands still covering her face, and Tobin holds her tight. Eventually Hope hugs her back and Tobin whispers soothing words into her ear.

 

“You should think about going home for the night. You shouldn’t have to work like this.” Tobin says, once the tears stopped falling. Hope shakes her head. “I need to work. If I go home, I’ll be a mess.”

 

They both make their way back downstairs and Hope heads straight to the bar to make some drinks. She considers bartending to be her therapy and it’s the only thing that’s stopping her from breaking down again. She thought Kelley finally wanted to be with her, wanted to see where things would lead, but now she knows that the other woman isn’t going to settle down. Not for her, at least.

 

Tobin goes back to the table to see two people missing. She gives Alex a questioning look and is met with a nod towards the dance floor. Tobin looks to see Kelley and the brunette kissing and moving to the beat.  “God, she’s an idiot. Alex nods and the rest of the table looks at each other, the mood is ruined for the night.

 

“How is she?” Alex asks. Tobin shakes her head. “A mess. She pissed and upset. Kelley only has herself to blame this time.” Alex sighs, before scooting herself up and out of the booth. “Drinks?” She asks.

 

She heads to the bar and waits for Hope to look up at her. The taller woman shakes her head. “I can’t do this right now.” She says, as she approaches. Alex shrugs. “I just need drinks.” She states, before giving her their order.

 

“Don’t give up on her.” Alex says, as Hope places Tobin’s beer in front of her. Hope scoffs. “I didn’t. I didn’t give up on her the first two times she did something like this. I was willing to go all in with her. She is the one who you should be talking to, not me.” She says, coldly. Alex doesn’t respond and simply places the money on the countertop, before taking the drinks back to their table.

 

* * *

 

 

The night went smoothly for Hope up until about 1 AM. She’s walking towards the dance floor with an empty tray in her hand, after having delivered drinks to a few tables. She hears a commotion and immediately travels towards the source.

 

When she finds a group of about eight men, who look to be right out of college, yelling at each other, she grumbles under her breath. She’s used to seeing drunken fights and arguments, so she goes to intervene. “Alright, guys. Break it up or you’re out of here.” She says, simply.

 

Her presence, however, is unnoticed and the men continue to argue. Hope tries to make out what it’s about, but all she gathers is that one of the guys accidently bumped into someone from the other group of men and someone overreacted.

 

One of them steps into the face of a shorter man, which causes his friends to step up behind him. “Okay, you’re out. All of you. Go.” Hope gets in between them, finally getting their attention. “Go.” She says, again, pointing towards the door for emphasis.

 

The men behind Hope back down and start heading around her, towards the exit, but the shorter man throws a punch. It connects with the back of someone’s head and it quickly turns into a brawl. Hope acts on instinct and starts grabbing the backs of shirts, trying to pull them away from each other.

 

The other clubgoers either don’t notice the fight, because of the loud music, or are standing back and watching it unfold. Only two men try to step in and help break it up. “Fucking stop!” Hope yells, as she grabs the shorter man by the back of the shirt, trying to pull the instigator away from the fight.

 

He goes to throw another punch, but when he pulls back to wind up his elbow connects with Hope’s left eye. Her grip immediately goes slack and she grabs her face, checking for blood, but quickly goes back to breaking it up.

 

She feels an arm around her waist and her body being lifted into the air. “We don’t need you getting hurt, Hope. Let us handle it.” She hears Ronnie’s voice sound in her ear and sees the black ‘bouncer’ shirt. He places her down a few feet away from the fight and gives her a reassuring nod, before beginning to pull bodies away from each other.

 

Hope takes a few breaths and reaches up to touch her eye. She knows that’s probably going to be a nasty bruise when it fully forms.

 

“Are you okay?” Alex says, as she approaches Hope from behind. She heard the commotion and stood up on her booth just in time to see Hope get clocked in the face with an accidental elbow. “I’m fine.” The taller woman replies.

 

Alex grabs Hope’s chin and turns her face so she can inspect her eye, which is already swelling. “You need to ice that.” Alex says, seriously. Hope is about to reply, when she sees Kelley rushing over to her with concern written all over her face.

 

“What happened? Are you okay? Tobin said someone hit you.” She rushes out, as she inspects Hope’s face. Her eyes widen when she sees Hope’s swelling, red, eye. “I’m fine, Kelley. It wasn’t on purpose. I got elbowed.” Hope speaks dryly, wanting it to be clear that Kelley isn’t forgiven in the slightest.

 

Alex looks between them and gives an awkward wave, before heading back towards their friends. Kelley watches Alex leave. It’s only when her friend disappears into a crowd that she turns back to Hope. “I told her to leave.” She says, simply.

 

Hope scoffs. “Is that supposed to make it better? You’ve been making out with her all night and I guarantee if this hadn’t happened” She motions to the fight, which is now broken up and people are being escorted outside. “you would have brought her home tonight.” She finishes.

 

Kelley looks down. She knows she fucked up. She knows she did what she always does and ruined it. And she’s honestly not sure if she’s going to be able to get Hope back.

 

“I-I don’t know what to say. I mean, I shouldn’t have brought her here and I shouldn’t have kissed her. But, honestly Hope, you and I aren’t a couple so you can’t truly be angry at me about it.” She’s grasping at strings and it’s all the wrong ones.

 

Hope looks towards where the fight happened to find all of them gone, making the club safe once again. “I thought we were going to try though. I didn’t think we were seeing other people. You should have come to me and we could have talked about it before you came here and embarrassed me in front of my staff.”

 

Kelley opens her mouth to respond, but Hope cuts her off. “We’re just on two different pages, Kell. We aren’t gonna work. And at this point, we aren’t gonna work as friends either. So please stop texting me, stop calling me, and don’t come to my apartment unless it’s an absolute emergency.” Hope finishes and walks away before giving Kelley the chance to respond.

 

The taller woman walks straight upstairs. She needs to get to her office and get her stuff together. She can feel her eye starting to swell shut and she can’t be working with one good eye. For a second, she thinks Kelley is following her, but when she turns around to see that she isn’t, she feels a strange sense of disappointment.

 

She hands Carli the reigns for the rest of the night and heads home. She takes a taxi, knowing it’s not safe to walk home alone, especially with one eye. She’s upset about Kelley; how everything was handled, but she knows it has to be this way. She can’t continue to get hurt by someone who isn’t ready for what she has to offer.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, there will be a slight time hop after this chapter. 
> 
> Kelley done fucked up.


End file.
